1st Resolution. "Resolved that the large Sums, which have been chearfully granted for His Majesty's Service, amounting to upwards of £74000 and chiefly intrusted to the Application of His Excellency the Governor have been injudiciously applied, and several military Commissions have been granted to persons of little weight and Interest in the Province, whereby the Service has been delayed and the Aids granted have not had the good Effect proposed by the Assembly."

Answer. In Answer to this Resolve I must beg Leave to observe that the Charge contained in it is twofold first the Misapplication of the publick Money I was chiefly intrusted with, and secondly my having granted Military Commissions to persons of no Interest which thereby renders the Aids that were granted ineffectual; It is true as the Accusations are general, it might be thought sufficient for me in general to deny them, but as my Conduct ever since I have been honoured with the Administration will bear the strictest Scrutiny both before God and Man I shall so far presume upon your Lordship's patience as to faithfully lay open my Behaviour to you in Respect of every particular I am charged with, as I am induced to hope when it comes to be inquired into, it will meet with Your Lordship's Approbation.

In Regard to the first Accusation to wit the Misapplication of the publick Money, I do affirm that there was not a single Sum granted and paid by my Warrants but what has been scrutinized and passed before the Committee of Accounts, and afterwards approved of by the House, except the Account of the New York Expedition; which cou'd not be liquidated before the Returns made to me from thence, and which I did not receive 'till last February, owing to the several Remittances not having been sooner settled. Upon the opening of the Session I laid a fair Account of them before the Assembly, who by a Multiplicity of Business were not able, or perhaps unwilling to pass them, and as to the late Supplies granted, the Officers who had received the Money attended to pass their Accounts but were prevented by the like Reason, so that no injudicious Application can yet be made appear in any Warrants I ever signed upon the Treasurers, otherwise being so much my Enemies they wou'd not have failed to have produced them, and I can further most solemnly affirm that I never fingered one single Shilling of the publick Money, tho' I have paid Money out of my Pocket to Contingencies for the good of the Service, which the Committee of Accounts by the Instigation of one of the Treasurers refused to repay one. And I further expended upon my Expedition to the Congress at Philadelphia to which I was summoned, considerably above £100 Sterling for which the Assembly never made me any Allowance, nor even for House Rent, tho' always allowed in other Provinces. Hence My Lords it clearly appears that the Misapplication of the publick Money, if any such there be, can in no wise be laid at my door. In Respect to the second Accusation, to wit my having granted Military Commissions to persons of no Interest, which thereby rendered the Aids that were granted ineffectual, I must give Your Lordships a detail of my Conduct in that regard, the Charge itself is a general one. Except one Captain Arbuthnot a Nephew of Mr. Barker; who brought in this Resolution, and one Capt. Grainger a Gent. of Distinction in this Province, and who had been appointed Lieut. Colonel to the Carolina Regiment in 1754. I know of no others who have misbehaved. The other Captains whom I appointed were my own Son who had been several years a Lieutenant in the English fusileers, and had procured His Majesty's Leave of Absence to attend me here for some time, and having raised one Company to join Genl. Braddock, and there being no person in the Province who had been an Officer of the Regulars & understood any thing of Discipline, I thought it for His Majesty's Service to give him the Command of the Company upon that unfortunate Expedition, that he might not be an idle Spectator here, and he had his Company compleat, and at the Rendezvous at Fort Cumberland in good time, and hope in that Instance I cou'd not be blamed.

The Company to defend our Western Frontier was given to Capt. Waddell, who had been appointed a Lieutenant in Colo. Innes's Regiment sent to join the Virginia Troops before my Arrival in 1754, and was there made a Captain, and finding him in his Person and Character every way qualified for such a Command, as he was young active and resolute, I thought it for His Majesty's Service to continue him in that Station, and in the late Expedition under General Forbes upon sending out 3 Companies to the Ohio gave him a Commission of Major to Command those Provincials, where he had great Honour done him being employed in all reconnoitring parties, and dressed and acted as an Indian; and his Serjt. Rogers took the only Indian Prisoner who gave Mr. Forbes certain Intelligence of the Forces in Fort Du Quesne upon which they resolved to proceed. He has since with great Gallantry acted against the Cherokees, having given him a Colonel's Commission also to command the Frontier Militia to act along with the Provincials. And has fully accounted for all the Money he had received until December 1759 as entered in their Journals, so that as to two of the Companies I hope I am not to blame.

Upon the Expedition to New York I sent over 4 Companies under the Command of my Son and Genl. Shirley then having the Command desired that I might appoint a Field Officer to command those 4 Companies, and as my Son had a Command in the Regulars, and was consequently the Senior Officer, I appointed him Major as directed. The other three Captains were

Mr. McManus who had been formerly a Lieutenant in Innes's Regiment before my Arrival, and had been so diligent in recruiting as to raise the Men in the Company he served in with great Dispatch, and as his Father had been an Officer in the Regulars, I had upon Braddock's Expedition made him Lieutenant to my Son's Company, and upon the New York Expedition gave him a Company, where he behaved so well, and was so beloved of his Men, as to merit preferment, and is now a Lieutenant in the Regulars.

Colo. Grainger upon the breaking of the Carolina Regimt. accepted of a Commission of Captain upon the New York Expedition. He was a Gentleman of good fortune in the Province, the others I had appointed had all come lately from Ireland, and therefore the Country born as they are called here were displeased that any Europeans shou'd be employed. I therefore to please them appointed Grainger Captain, but found him after his Return no way proper for an Officer, for all he proposed was making the most of his Company, and having quartered his Company at Fort Johnston about 24 Miles from his place of Residence he neglected it, and when it was reduced from 100 to 50, he discharged all the best Men for Money and kept in all the worst and unfit for Service, & upon my changing his Company to go to Fort Granville 100 Miles from his Residence he threw up his Commission rather than leave his House, and left a very bad Company to his Successor Capt. Paine, this therefore was no Encouragement for me to employ the Country born of Interest in the Province to make Fortunes at the publick Expense.

Captain Arbuthnot Nephew to Treasurer Barker I made upon his Recommendation, having given him a Lieutenancy before, he was originally from New England, but then resident in this Province. He in a great Measure recruited by his Subalterns, who were obliged to advance their pay for that purpose, which he never repaid them, the Companies being broke in New York, and the Men turn'd over to recruit the American Regiment, he never returned to this province, nor accounted for the Money advanced to him, sending home a lame Excuse that in passing a River he had lost all his papers, and therefore cou'd not account, the other Captains returned and each of them made up their Accounts before the Assembly and were paid the Ballances due to them, but on the petition of his Subaltern against him, Mr. Barker his Uncle by his Interest as Treasurer got the Assembly to pay the Subaltern the Money he had advanced, and he has never accounted to this day, all which they wou'd lay to my Charge. This Captain afterwards got a Company in the New England Troops, and happen'd to command in Fort William Henry at the time the Enemy appeared before it, when he was seized with a panic & was convulsed for some Hours, he was accordingly relieved and immediately recovered after quitting the fort; whether therefore Barker (who was not ignorant of these Disqualifications) in recommending him, or I in accepting the Recommendation are most to blame Your Lordships must Judge.

Captain Paine whom I appointed to succeed Mr. Grainger commanded with Major Waddell on the Ohio Expedition, as also in the Party who took the Indian & Squaw that gave us the Intelligence, and was also out upon all reconnoitring parties, as Genl. Forbes's whole Dependance for Intelligence was upon the Carolina and Maryland Provincials, all others having failed in taking a Prisoner.

Capt. Bayley who had been Major Waddell's Lieutenant and a good Officer, I promoted upon a Vacancy to a Company, who always has behaved well. These are all I gave Companies to except

Capt. James Moore who was a young Gentleman of one of the best Families of the province, and who for one Year commanded in Fort Johnston, who was expert in Military Discipline & well beloved in the Province, these were all who had the Command of Companies since my Arrival. As to Subalterns I was obliged to delay giving Commissions for 6 Weeks to get Recommendations from Gentlemen, many offered to take Companies, but few or none to take Subaltern Commissions, and even when some were recommended & the Commissions made out, they wou'd not serve; upon which I gave several Commissions to Young Gentlemen who came from Europe against whom I never had the least Complaint, I therefore submit it to Your Lordships whether there has been the least foundation for this inquisitive Resolve.

2d. Resolution. "That His Excellency without any Colour of Law having appointed his Nephew Mr. Spaight Paymaster to the Forces raised in this province by Means whereof he has drawn Commissions on several Aids granted to His Majesty for raising and paying the said Forces, the same has been a Cause of rendring the said Aids insufficient for the intended Purposes, and an Obstruction to His Majesty's Service."

Answer. In Respect to this Charge it will be necessary to observe that before my Arrival in this Province £12000 Currency had been granted to raise and support a Regiment under the Command of Colo. Innes to act in Conjunction with the Virginia forces against the French upon the Ohio. Mr. Innes was allowed 1 ⅌. Cent for his trouble in receiving and paying the Sum allotted for these purposes, notwithstanding which he appointed Mr. Murray the then Secretary of the province his Attorney to receive and remit him the pay of the Regiment who, as he was allowed no part of Colonel Innes's Commissions stopped for his own use 2½ ⅌ Cent from the Officers & private Mens pay without any Allowance from the publick. When the Money therefore was ordered into my Hands to pay the Troops and no pay Master appointed, I thought my Nephew, whom on my Arrival I had appointed my private Secretary, and in whom I cou'd confide, the most proper person to issue it, and I then gave him an Order to receive the Proclamation Bills from the Treasurers that he might remit and pay the Troops agreable to my respective Warrants. I must also observe that he stopped no Commissions out of the Pay of the Troops, nor did I myself make him the least Consideration for his trouble, but left it to the Assembly to give him what they thought he deserved, and accordingly upon passing his Accounts they allowed him one ⅌. Cent, a Sum equal to that which was allowed to Colonel Innes, besides the 2½ stop'd by Mr Murray from the Troops, and for which they brought Suit against him. This Transaction happened during the 2 years my Nephew was private Secretary, and nothing has been paid into his hands since he was appointed Secretary to the province; the Force of this Charge must therefore vanish, as the one ⅌. Cent he received was neither by my Order nor my Appointment, but was allowed to him as a quantum meruit by the General Assembly.

3d. Resolution. "Resolved that His Excellency out of the Proportion of the Money coming to this province by the Grant made by His Majesty and the parliament of Great Britain towards reimbursing this and the neighbouring Provinces the Expences they have incurred during the present War, in promoting the Common Cause, having procured a Payment of £1000 Sterling, which has never been accounted for, or any Intimation given to the Assembly that it has been applied for His Majesty's Service, or the Benefit of this Country, or to whom the said Money was paid, the same has a manifest Tendency to frustrate the gracious and benevolent Intentions of His Majesty and Parliament towards this Province.

Answer. In Order, My Lords, to answer this Resolution fully and to clear myself from the unmerited Reproach thereby cast on me, I must inform your Lordships that in the Year 1755, when the Forces of this Province joined the Virginians under Genl. Braddock, We had no Means, having neither Money nor Credit, of paying our Forces out of the province, but by buying up Cattle and pork &c. to send into Virginia to sell there, when the pork &c came there, the Markets were so low, and there being little or no Demand for it, it was again reshipped for the Islands, and this Disappointment Occasioning the Pay to fall far short of what was necessary, I was obliged upon my own Credit with Colo. Hunter to take up Money to pay the Troops.

The next Year 1756 when we sent 4 Companies to New York; and the Supplies to be remitted from hence were put under my Directions, I signed Warrants to Mr. John Campbell, the most iminent Trader in this province (of unblemished Character and who had been chosen Speaker of the last Assembly) to buy up Provisions and Commodities upon the best footing and send either to New York; if there saleable, or to the West Indies where there was a better Market.

This being the only Method, tho' attended with great Delay, that cou'd be taken to pay the Troops, it was consequently necessary to employ a Merchant of good Credit at New York, to whom the Commodities might be consigned or Bills sent to upon the Cargos sold in the Islands, accordingly Mr. Hugh Wallace a Merchant of an undoubted Character, and Mr. Campbell's Correspondent there was fixed upon to pay the Troops.

After this when I found the Difficulty and Delays which attended these Remittances, as well as the Necessity of having the Troops soon there, and the Men punctually paid. I wrote to Genl. Shirley acquainting him with their distressed Situation on Account of our irregular Remittances, and desired he wou'd advance £500 Sterl. to pay them, which shou'd be paid out of the Effects remitted to Mr. Wallace, he accordingly upon my Letter paid £500 into the hands of Mr. Wallace, and took his Bond for the Money.

Upon my Lord Londouns taking the Command, and our Remittances still falling short, some of our Sloops having been taken, and the Insurance not immediately paid, I was again obliged to apply in like Manner to His Lordship, who advanced the like sum of £500, and took the like Security (Mr. Wallace's Bond) for the Repayment of it.

Mr. Campbell punctually accounted with the Assembly for all the Warrants I signed in his favour upon that fund, but by the great Delay in the Manner of remitting and settling the Accounts between Mr. Campbell & Mr. Wallace, the whole fund fell short of the pay, Camp necessaries Tents &c not provided for, upon which the Generals made a Demand of their Money, & threatened to sue him upon his Bonds.

By this Time the £50000 was voted for the Southern Provinces, upon which I wrote to Lord Loudoun, who was then appointed to settle the Dividend between the Provinces, to stop £1000 out of our Share of the Dividend and clear Mr. Wallace from these Bonds, but as we have not yet received our Quota of that Grant, these Bonds are still lying over him, and as he advanced more Money than the Remittances came to, he charged (in settling his Accounts which never cou'd be done 'till last February) Interest for those Sums, and gave in a fair Account vouched by Mr. Campbell, and by this Account which I delivered into the Assembly there appears due to Mr. Wallace about £2000 York Currency, for he cannot give this province Credit for the £1000 'till the Bonds (into which he entered as a Security for it) are discharged, and which will amount if paid to about £1700 York Currency, exclusive of the other Money which he advanced. This My Lords is a true State of the Case, and Your Lordships may judge whether I have been in any fault, as I have been no way concerned in it but by signing the Warrants which have all been accounted for and passed before the Assembly by Mr. Campbell, can I then become accountable for the £1000 Sterling which still remains unpaid and the Bonds not cancelled, nay further every Officer concerned upon that Expedition accounted upon Oath before the Committee of Accounts, except Captain Arbuthnot Mr. Barker’s Nephew, who pretended to lose his papers in passing a River, and never returned into this province, tho' his Uncle by his Interest as Treasurer passed his Accounts in the best Manner he cou'd without Vouchers.

4th. Resolution. Resolved that although the Governor has been frequently addressed to cause an Account of the Moneys that have been paid to his Orders to be laid before the Assembly, the same have not been done, and the Account he has sent to the House this present Session from Mr. Wallace a Gentleman unknown to the Assembly and in whom they never reposed any Trust does not in any wise tend to show the Application of the Sums he has drawn out of the Treasury.

Answer. The Charge of this Resolve your Lordships will find I hope satisfactorily answered by referring to my Answer of the third, though I can't help observing the flagrant Absurdity contained in it, that when the Troops were destined for New York I must have called the Assembly to appoint the person whom I shou'd make the Remittances to or otherwise have let the publick Service suffer; No, My Lords, the Grievance lyes here that His Majesty shou'd presume Without the Approbation and previous Consent of the Assembly to empower a Person to pay the Troops that Money which was alone granted to him and for his Service, for it has been their sole Aim to incroach upon the Prerogative Inch by Inch as their Phrase is, and substitute in the Room a kind of Republican Government so prejudicial to the just Rights of the Crown the Liberties and true Interest of the People.

5th. Resolution. "Resolved That His Excellency's Practise in disposing of Royal Charters to several Counties to impower them to send Representatives at different but exorbitant prices under the Denomination of fees to the Governor and Secretary is illegal and oppressive."

Answer. In respect of this Charge as it doth not particularize the different and exorbitant prices which were charged by the Governor & Secretary, it is sufficient for me to reply that the fees were neither different nor exorbitant, and I call upon the Junto and their Adherents to name any particular fact in support of their Charge, but that I may avoid the Imputation of intended Delays, and at the same time submit the most minute Circumstance of my Conduct to your Lordship's Scrutiny I must descend to particulars.

I presume that I am entitled by my Commission to all the usual fees and perquisites due to other Governors; that I have no provincial Appointment as other Governor's have, mine being from His Majesty's particular Grace and favour no Charge upon the Province; that I receive nothing from it but the usual fees due by Licenses; and though by His Majesty's Instructions and Command I had applied for a perpetual Appointment to be settled upon me and my Successors by the Assembly as complied with in other Colonies, yet no such Appointment hath been made, and therefore it is but reasonable that proper fees and perquisites shou'd be paid. It is evident also that in a Fee Bill passed by the late Governor the Fees in most Cases particularly in Chancery were so diminished and limited that a good Clerk cou'd not nor even now cannot be procured, the Governor's and Secretarys fees also are reduced, and no Fees allowed for the Great Seal, or other Services not specified in the Act; and in a subsequent Clause a penalty is inflicted upon any person who shall take a fee not specified therein; though this cannot affect the present Charge, for as no Charters were then granted by the Crown, consequently no fee was appointed for that Service.

As therefore I must have done Injustice to my Successor as well as to my own Right if I had not demanded a fee upon each Charter, the only thing to be considered was what wou'd be a quantum meruit for so great a Privilege from the Crown. I considered that in Europe and particularly in Ireland that the Fees paid by a single Justice, whose place was only during pleasure, amounted to at least 5 Guineas besides Sollicitor's fees. I therefore upon this Service consulted with the then Attorney General Mr. Robert Jones (who with Mr. Barker moved this Resolution against me) and told him I knew not what fee to take upon granting a Charter to a County, and asked him whether five pounds were sufficient. He said he thought it was too little, and that I cou'd not demand less than £10 this Currency (which is in Value 5 Guineas, a Guinea passing here for 40) which wou'd be a mere trifle to a County for such a Grant, it not amounting to a penny each taxable, and as he was then taking out a Charter for Orange County he raised that fee from the people and afterwards paid me; since which time I have without any Variation charged the same upon every Charter, of which I acquainted your Lordships that I might readily acquiesce with your Opinion concerning it. He then paid me nothing for my Secretary, nor did I make any Demand, whatever he has since taken for his Service in Writing or Sealing the Charter I can't be chargeable with, as no Complaint ever came to me against him, and he himself must answer it. I am also informed by my Nephew the Provincial Secretary that he has cautiously avoided receiving any fee upon the Charters tho' countersigned by him until your Lordships pleasure be known, from whence I hope your Lordships will infer, where the Assemblies endeavour to force Governors into a Compliance of their Measures by limiting their Privileges that there is no just Ground for this Resolution.

6th. Resolution. "That the granting Licenses to persons to practise the Law who are ignorant even of the Rudiments of that Science is a Reproach to Government, Disgrace to the Profession, and greatly injurious to Suitors."

Answer. The insinuated Censure intended by this Resolve will I hope appear to be undeserved when I acquaint your Lordships that to prevent my being teazed to license persons unknown to me, and least such as were unqualified might be thereby admitted, I laid it down as a Rule that I never departed from but in two Instances, that I wod. never grant a License to plead either in the Supreme or County Courts until I had either a written or verbal Recommendation from the Chief Justice, which not only eased me of frequent Sollicitations, but wou'd take off any Charge against me if any improper persons were admitted. The only two Instances in which I granted Licenses without such Recommendation were one to Collo. Ruddick a Lawyer of long standing in Virginia, who had Lands on the Northern Frontier of this Province, and consequently had Dealings here, and upon his visiting me at New Bern some time after my coming into this Governmt. he desired a License from me, which by his long practice in Virginia and possessions in this province I thought him entitled to, and without any Recommendation from the Chief Justice I gave him one. The other Instance was a Gentleman a long practitioner at Norfolk in Virginia who had obtained a Power of Attorney from Govr. Tinker to sue for some Lands he had a right to by Colo. Bladen's Daughter, which lay upon the Boundary Line between Virginia and this Province, he therefore applied to me for a License to finish these Affairs, which I thought reasonable, and granted it without waiting for the Chief Justices Recommendation. I never swerved from this Rule I laid down to myself in any other Instance, nay even since the Attorney General Mr. Child's Arrival he recommended to me Mr. Lucas who came over with him for a License which I refused, until I received a Recommendation from the Chief Justice Mr. Berry.

But this Charge to come against me, and that too from Mr. Jones and Mr. Barker doth not a little Surprise me, as the one was bred a Weaver, the other was a Skipper of a New England Bark, and afterwards a Hackney Clerk in this Province; I mean not this by way of Reflexion My Lords, but I think their mean Education and meaner Original wou'd be Motives, if duely reflected on, that wou'd induce them to assist rather than discourage others of equal parts though under similar Disadvantages in the obtaining of Licenses, were they even like them to aim at the being Associate Justices.

I must further inform your Lordships that I never yet exerted the power which My Predecessor Johnston did in withdrawing his License and silencing the Lawyers at his pleasure among whom was Mr. Hodgson the then Speaker and Mr. Saml. Swann the present one a Candidate also for the Assistant Judges place; and who as the vaunted Opponent of every Administration was suspended from practising several years; had I exerted this power the Junto would have impeached me, and at least made it a premunire if not a Misprision of Treason against the Triumvirate.

7th. Resolution. "Resolved that the taking 4 Pistoles for the Governors and his Secretary's fees on such Licenses is expresly contrary to an Act of Assembly."

Answer. In regard of this Charge which insinuates that the fee I received on Licenses was the sole View of my granting them, I must refer your Lordships to my Answer of the former Resolution as to my Right. Moreover I must observe that it was the constant Usage before my Time even since the passing of the Fee Bill to take a Guinea for each License for which I only took a pistole an exorbitant Charge upon the Lawyers whose usual retaining fee in Chancery is £10 Sterl, instead of £3 Currency given them by the Act of Assembly. I must further observe to your Lordships that since my Entrance into this Government I never received a payment in Gold or Silver except those pistoles for the Law Licenses, and 4 Pistoles for granting a Commission to a Privateer from this Province, all other payments being made me in paper Bills at near 50 ⅌ Cent Discount, and further that this exorbitant fee in the whole six years of my Residence here has not amounted in the whole to 50 pistoles, as will appear by a paper herewith sent by my Secretary of all the Money received by him for me from June 1757, the Time when he came into my Service 'till this Date, the Amount about 33 Pistoles, and before that time there were not admitted above 8 or 9 as few demanded Licenses for some time after my Arrival. As my Nephew when Secretary to me never exceeded half a pistole for a single License and frequently not above 6/8. I never enquired into, knew, nor expected to hear that my present Secretary ever took more until I was informed of it, sitting the last Assembly, upon which I severely reprehended him and ordered him to receive no more than the accustomed fee and to repay the Surplus he has taken. You will find, My Lords, by the inclosed paper the Excuse he wou'd make me for his Conduct, as well as an Endeavour to shew that it was not the Intention of the Law to deprive people of fees for Services that were done though not specified in the Act, and that such was the Opinion of Saml. Swann the Speaker one of the Junto who agreed to this Resolution, but this is digressing from the present purpose which is to justify my own Conduct. I therefore hope My Lords from what has appeared that you will not think me avarisious or exorbitant in taking a pistole for each Attorneys License, and that I shall stand acquitted of blame for that which my Secretary hath done unknown to me, as no Complaint ever came to me against him, besides if he is faulty he is subject to the penalty of the Act, and I shall let the Law take place against him without giving him my Protection.

8th Resolution: "That tho' the Governor was addressed by the Assembly in June last to take necessary Measures to suppress the several Mobbs & Insurrections which for many Months in open Violation of all Law have with Impunity assembled in great Numbers in different Counties, erected sham Jurisdictions and restrained Men of their Liberty, broke open Goals, released Malefactors, dug up the Dead from the Grave, and committed other Acts of Rapine and Violence, no effectual Steps have been taken to check the Torrent of their licentious Extravagancies, notwithstanding their having repeated those Outrages, but on the contrary some of their principal Leaders and known Conductors have been preferred to the Magistracy, and honoured with Commissions in the Militia, whilst on the other hand Gentlemen of unexceptionable Characters and distinguished worth, who had filled those Offices with Credit, and whose Conduct in the Discharge of their respective functions had been justly rewarded by the Approbation & Applause of all who were Witnesses of their publick Deportment have from groundless prejudice and unreasonable Caprice without Complaint or Accusation against them been abruptly displaced, whereby Magistracy is fallen into Disgrace, Courts have lost their Influence and Government it's Dignity, and Life Liberty and Property is rendered precarious, and without a speedy Establishment of Courts of Justice on a respectable Foundation, and Appointment of Justices of the principal Courts on such Terms as Gentlemen of suitable Abilities may accept such Appointments, without Apprehension of being displaced but for Misconduct, the Government will be in no less peril from it's internal Enemies, than from the Depredation of Savages on the Frontier Settlements."

Answer. In Respect of this pompous Resolve so replete with Oppression and Mal Administration I must beg leave to enter into a short detail of the Rise and Cause of the Riots &c complained of, in Order to prove that the Governor and Council have neither been the Cause of those Northern Disturbances so mightily magnified, nor have been negligent when applied to in the Suppression of them, and shall afterwards answer the conclusive part of the Charge of turning out and putting in of Magistrates and Militia Officers so greatly complained of.

I must first observe that these Mobbs Riots and Insurrections terrible as they are described were all confined to Lord Granville's Northern District, and that all the Outrages complain'd of were limited to the Counties of Granville and Edgecomb, from which Halifax has been taken off since, except in the Instance of going to Chowan to carry up Mr. Corbin his Lordship's Agent Prisoner to Edgecomb the chief part of the great Insurrection.

But to lay open the Cause and Spring of that Mob, I am under a Necessity of hinting at part of the Management of Lord Granville's Agents as well in England as in this Province. Mr. Child & Mr. Corbyn were joint Agents to His Lordship in this province when he was formerly Attorney General, and acted in Concert to make the most they cou'd of the Fees and perquisites in his Lordship's Office for their own Emolument at the Expence of the people by which Means they procured great Sums to themselves but little for his Lordship. Upon his Return to England he fixed the plan of Operation with Mr. Corbyn and deputed his place to Colo. Innes who lived at a Distance at Cape Fear, and upon his giving him an Annual Allowance he was to go to Edenton at appointed times to sign the Deeds and receive the fines, and was no further let into the private Agreement between Child and Corbyn, upon Child's Return to England he was to represent all things to Lord Granville, & Corbyn was to act by his Directions. He then to acquire a greater Share of His Lordship's favour acquainted him with the great Sums the Agents got for granting of Lands, upon which His Lordship took all the fees into his own hands and fixed annual Salaries upon his Agents, which lessen'd the Agents Profits, upon which Innes wou'd not pay Child the stipulated allowance, this occasioned small Returns to His Lordship, as Child stopped the Money he remitted to his Lordship to pay himself what Innes was to allow him: He then, by his Lordship's Allowance turned out Innes, and got Mr. Wheatley the Naval Officer appointed in his place, for which he got Bonds from him for £1000 at least, and he was instructed to oblige Corbyn to sign Bonds to His Lordship to execute his trust and account and pay for the Money received, he also sent over a Table of fees to be put up in the Office to let the Tenants know what they were to pay, as several fees were taken unknown to his Lordship, and some of the Tenants paid more than usual which had caused great Complaints amongst them. However Child managed so with Corbyn that he got up the Bond from Mr. Wheatley, and kept it without perfecting it; and the Table of fees was not set up in the Office, nor any Remittances of Consequence sent to his Lordship, upon this Child got Wheatley turned out, and transferred his Mortgage to Mr. Bodeley, from whom he got about £2000, and other presents of great Value, and got him appointed joint Agent with Corbyn with Instructions to call Corbyn to account; at the same time Child advised Corbyn not to account with him but delay it 'till he (Child) shou'd come over, and at the same time directed him to make a party against the Governor's Administration, and by a Division being kept up between the Agents he cou'd thence infer the Necessity of His Lordships sending him over to settle his Affairs; by these Intrigues little Money was remitted to Lord Granville, and great Complaints were made by the Tenants for unusual & extraordinary fees taken upon Surveys and Grants, above double of what were taken in the King's District, the Surveyors and Understrappers demanding fees even to be admitted to Corbyn to make their Entries or to be heard, in which he went tracks, Colo. Hayward being the Chanel through whom those Demands were made, many double Entries made and exorbitant Sums taken to give the preference; these and many other Abuses having initated the Heads of the Tenants they applied in those Counties to their Neighbour Robin Jones then His Majesty's Attorney General to know how to be relieved, he advised them to petition either the Earl or the Assembly to take their Case into Consideration, but as he was Attorney General he cou'd not appear publickly for them, but he wou'd prepare or alter any petition they shou'd get drawn, for which it is probable he was well paid, as they intrusted him with their whole Grievances; hitherto there were no Riots. In December 1758 they preferred this petition to the Assembly, and his friend Mr. Barker another of the Junto was made Chairman of the Committee, and they finding it more for their Interest to make up Matters with Corbyn against whom the greatest Charge was laid, they changed sides for a valuable Consideration, and by the Report of the Committee they had no Redress. Corbyn was then obliged to produce his Table of fees, but as great Abuses were charged against Hayward and his Sons and other Understrappers, and no redress received nor Money returned the Ferment increased. During this Trial Hayward returned home, and in two or three days Sickness died unexpectedly, and was buried privately. The petitioners thought this was a trick to avoid his being prosecuted, & therefore went in a Body to open the Grave, and finding his body left it there satisfied. This is the whole Riot of digging up Graves.

Nothing more happen'd 'till after the Session, when in Janry 1759 the Petitioners having had neither Redress nor their Money unjustly taken from them returned, a Number of them I believe about 20 went from Edgecomb to Corbyn's House near Edenton, and obliged him in the night to go along with them in his own Chair to Edgecomb where he held an Office, and there obliged him to give a Security or faithfully to promise to return at the following Spring Court, and to refund all the fees unjustly taken from them, and then released him and let him return home along with the other Agent Mr. Bodeley whom they had detained until they brought up Corbyn in Custody.

No Complaint of this treatment was made or any Examination taken, though Application was made to Corbyn to give them and to prosecute, nor had the Governor or Council any Account or Letter about it, nor did the present Accuser Robin Jones then Attorney General who lived in their Neighbourhood take or order any Examination to be taken, though it was his Duty and every adjoining Magistrate's to have ordered prosecution, but soon after the Petitioners who were advised by Robin Jones, and probably he had taken a fee from them to petition, apprehended, and most think with Justice that he had got a large fee from Corbyn as a Lawyer against them, and some of them vowed, as it was said, his Destruction, and wou'd not let him plead in the General or County Courts and frighten'd him so that he always carried pocket pistols about with him.

In May 1759 Mr. Jones attended the Sessions at New Bern, and appeared before me in Council, and made Oath of these Proceedings, and said that unless a proclamation was issued and a Reward given to discover these Rioters, there wou'd be no Safety in those Counties; I then sent a Message upon it to the Assembly to enable me to give a Reward which they addressed me to do, upon which a proclamation was issued, and Mr. Jones carried it along with him to distribute in that Neighbourhood; some persons were afterwards committed, and I heard afterwards the Jail was broke open and the prisoners set at large, and all these things happened before the Laws were repealed or promulged, and no Prosecution made against them, Corbyn indeed after this ordered a Prosecution, but afterwards countermanded it, as Mr. Child had advised him to stop it saying if it came upon Tryal he (Corbyn) wou'd be the Sufferer, as he had done things he cou'd not justify, and the fault wou'd be laid to the Charge of his Office.

This is the whole of these formidable Riots & Insurrections in the Province, and I cannot see how any fault can lay against the Governor and Council, when no Complaint is made to them, so that if any Neglect has been it must be imputed to Mr. Corbyn & Jones the Attorney General whose Duty it was to prosecute and not to the Governor & Council, as no other Notice was given by Affidavits or any thing known of those Riots but by flying Reports of which the Government can take no Notice.

As to the second or conclusive part of this Resolve to wit that some of their principal Leaders and known Conductors have been preferred to the Magistracy and honoured with Commissions, & that on the other hand Gentlemen of unexceptionable Characters have from groundless prejudice without Complaint or Accusation been abruptly displaced, I deny the Charge, and defy them to produce an Instance to prove it, though I must observe what doubtless will readily occur to your Lordships that upon my Arrival. I was an utter Stranger to the persons and Characters as well of those that were in the Magistracy, as of those that were qualified to be admitted into it, and must therefore take and rely upon the Recommendations & Informations of others. Your Lordships will also allow that in infant Colonies and new created Counties where the first Settlers chief Concern is to procure food, Cloathing, and decent Lodging, that very few have time to read & qualify themselves for being Magistrates and that many Justices are wanted, and as ne quovis ligno non fit Merearius thus situated I laid it down as a Rule to obey my Instructions in appointing no Justices but in Council and by their Consent, and when any were appointed always took the Recommendation of some of the Council when they knew any qualified, or of the Members of the respective Counties, or of Gentlemen of the Neighbourhood of the best Fortunes and Characters; I also laid it down as a Rule I never swerved from, and defy them to produce an Instance to the Contrary, that I ever removed one Justice without the Advice and Consent of the Council and can't recollect any one Instance of a Justice removed by the Council but one, unless it was upon Account of their not qualifying, and taking the Oath of Office and having their Names in the Commission only to excuse themselves from other Services, or upon their Removal out of the province or County where they resided, for the Rule laid down in Council was when any Complaint or want of Capacity appeared then to summon the accused party to attend the next Council and to determine upon the Hearing, and if the Summons was served & they did not attend it was taken pro confesso, and he was dismissed; tho' I must also observe that as they are only made during pleasure the Governor in Council has a right to strike any out of the Magistracy without a Hearing by Virtue of his prerogative, in case he be found acting contrary to the Duty he owes His Majesty, or counteracting his just Measures.

The only Instance which can be given of a Justice's being agreed to be turned out by me in Council without any Charge of Injustice having been imputed to him was in Agreeing upon my Application of turning out John Starkey Treasurer of the Southern District from being a Justice of peace for Onslow. This old Gentleman My Lords not less in Appearance than in principles is a declared Republican; and by professing those principles had gained a great Share of popular Applause, and had upon all Occasions endeavoured to bring Acts or Clauses to restrain and lessen His Majesty's Prerogative, his constant Schemes and Declarations being to gain from the Prerogative by small and imperceptible Degrees, and that by slipping in, if not closely attended to, occasional Clauses into useful Bills. Added to this was a constant Opposition to every thing that was asked or claimed as a right or priviledge in the Crown, an Instance of which as it is a very recent one I shall mention to your Lordships; His Majesty upon sending over a Train of Artillery with all the Ordnance Stores of above £3000 Value had commanded me to appoint a Storekeeper who was to correspond with the Board of Ordnance, and who gave £3000 Security for his place; His Majesty in Council also commanded me to apply to the Assembly for a suitable Appointment for him; which I accordingly did for £40 ⅌. Annu. the usual Salaries allowed in Europe; this Recommendation Jno. Starkey his Majesty's Treasurer opposed in the Committee and the House, and said he cou'd get it taken Care of for £12 ⅌. Ann. which was with great Difficulty allowed to the Gentleman (who was well qualified for such a Trust) he was obliged to lodge the Stores at Fort Johnston which was not quite finished, nor had it at that time a Garrison to defend it, and with this Salary it hath continued for some years, upon which in last December Session I applied again to Starkey and charged him as His Majesty's Treasurer, and as he had opposed it before, in Case he did not use his Influence to comply with his Majesty's Recommendation, that I wou'd resent it and use him as he deserved; this he neglected, and said as they had refused it before they wou'd not agree to it. Upon this I stated the whole Case in Council, and they unanimously concurred that he was unfit to enjoy any favour from the Crown, and left it to me to dismiss him or not as I thought proper, upon which when I saw him I told him he was no longer a Justice of the Peace for Onslow County, though I did not issue another Commission; I also My Lords dismissed him from being Colonel of a Militia Regiment, which was entirely in my own Power without the Council's Concurrence, and I thought the Reason for my doing it Justifiable, since as Colonel he never appeared in Arms, and at the Times of Musters when it was his Duty to have had the Men excercised and to have seen them regular in their Acoutrements, he was with his Account Books calling the Men out of their Ranks to settle their Accounts and discharge their Demands, for as he has a considerable fortune chiefly acquired by his having been Executor or Administrator to Orphan's Estates that together with his false popularity secures many both Debtors and Dependants; a Man thus disqualified for every kind of Military Employment how cou'd I consistent with my Duty continue a Colonel of the Militia, which at this Juncture especially I know not how soon I shall be forced to put in Action; for these Reasons my Lords as well as for political ones I think myself justified in depriving him of his Majesty's favours even before 1763 when the Temporary Act will expire wherein the Clause of his unlimited Time of being Treasurer was clap'd in through Inadvertency, it being a perpetual Clause added to a temporary Law, and from whence may be justly inferred the Necessity of never suffering a Tack to an Aid Bill which they always endeavour to push when a Supply is wanted on an Emergency.

The other Instance they hint at in dismissing Magistrates & Colonels of Militia is I suppose Mr. Corbyn, whom I turned out from being one of the Assistant Judges and Colonel of the Chowan Regimt. The Case, My Lords, was this—Mr. Corbyn had soon after my Arrival in the Province wrote a Letter against me to Lord Granville, complaining that I had granted patents upon Lord Granville's Lands, though he himself had always attended the Court of Claims where all patents were granted, and therefore knew the Accusation was false. Lord Granville upon his Letter acquainted me with his Complaints, and desired me to recall such Grants if perfected; this Accusation surprised me, and the first time I met him in Council I charged him with it, he denied the Charge and said he had never made such a Complaint, upon which I had his Lordships Letter read in Council, he still persisted in the Denial and said he had the Copy of the Letter at home which he wrote to My Lord to shew that what My Lord had wrote was false, I then charged him in Council to produce that Copy, upon which I sent an Attestation under the hands of the Council to His Lordship that I had never granted such patents, and that Corbyn owned I had never made any such to his knowledge. This Affair lay open to the December Session 1758 which was held at Edenton within 2 or 3 Miles of Corbyn's Residence, and Mr. Bodeley one of his Lordship's Agents having informed me that notwithstanding what he had said, that he (Corbyn) cou'd make it appear that I had granted Deeds upon his Lordship's Estate, and had persons to prove it; I had it again brought before the Council, and had the person he produced examined upon Oath, he said he had heard of a Man who had such a patent, but had not seen it, and upon examining him, he being a Surveyor, where the Lands lay, he said it was to the Westward beyond the Line which was run out by the Commissioners, where no Line was fixed, he was then asked whether some of the Lands which were in the Southern part of that imaginary Line in His Majesty's District had not been granted by Deeds from Lord Granville's Office, he said he believed some of those Lands were granted from Lord Granville's Office, and thus ended that Enquiry.

Upon this I again told Corbyn he had frequently engaged in the Council to produce the Copy of his Letter to Lord Granville against me to shew that what his Lordship wrote was false, he again affirmed that he had it and wou'd produce it as soon as he went to his house, I told him I insisted upon it, and if he did not produce it to make his Veracity appear, he ought to be suspended from the Council for his Prevarication. He went home and returned once or twice without it, and said he had forgot it, but engaged again to bring it; thus he delayed to the End of the Session, upon which as he was to carry home some Company with him, I told him if he did not send it to me or bring it the next day he had no Veracity and was not to be trusted, and he must take the Consequence upon himself. It not being thereupon produced, for his prevarication I dismissed him from being Colonel of the Regiment and from being one of the Associate Justices, and to shew that it was not disrespect to Lord Granville, I appointed his other Agent Bodeley Associate Judge, and gave his Commission in the Militia to the Lieutent. Colonel, of which I acquainted Lord Granville and told him if he had not been his Lordship's Agent I shou'd have also by the Consent of the Council have suspended him from the Council upon Account of this and other Misdemeanors as a Member of the Council.

As to that part in which I am charged with preferring the principal Leaders of those terrible Riots to the Magistracy, I can only say it is one amongst the many falsehoods that compose this Resolve. I am at a Loss to suggest whom they even hint at, unless it is Mr. Alexander McCulloch the late Deputy Auditor who was a Justice of the Peace long before my Arrival, and whom I appointed Colonel of the Edgecomb Militia. This Gentleman indeed happened to be surrounded by the Mob of petitioners and their friends, who had all got drunk and had gotten Mr. Bodeley one of Lord Granville's Agents in their Custody, whom he was endeavouring to relieve upon this some of the drunken Crowd thrust a Bible into his hand and wou'd oblige him to swear the party to what Oath he wanted to take, and forced him to hold the Book in his hand until the party swore to something he wou'd not attend to and was glad to make his Escape after Bodeley who had luckily got out of their hands, and this was what Mr. Jones the Attorney laid to his Charge as a Crime, and thence inferred that he advised with and was the Conductor of the Mob, but of this no Complaint was ever regularly made.

10. Resolution. "That the Books Records and papers of the Secretary's Office being lately by the Governor's Orders removed to Cape Fear near the Southern Extremity of this province renders it extremely expensive & difficult for the Generality of the people to have the necessary Recourse to that Office."

Answer. As the Removal of this Office is one of those few Truths contain'd in these Inquisitorial Resolves, I must in some Measure observe upon the Inconveniences and Conveniencies of such a proceeding, whereby it will appear how far I may be justified in the Opinion of your Lordships.

In Respect of the Inconveniency it is necessary to premise that the Act for fixing the Seat of Government was repealed by His Majesty, and that no Edifice or Building hath been yet erected for keeping the publick Records. It is also notoriously evident that the unhealthy Situation of the Town of New Bern deprives it of the least Claim to such an Advantage, as appears by the unanimous Vote of the Assembly now upon their Journals, to wit, that the Town of New Bern upon Account of it's being an unhealthy Situation was improper for the Seat of Government. Besides this unanswerable Objection I myself was under a Necessity of leaving it, for exclusive of the Want of every necessary Convenience, I was twice apprehended to be dying upon Account of the Unhealthiness of the place, and as the Shell of a very good House situate on a healthy Soil near Brunswick on Cape Fear River was offered me, I removed thither, where under God my health is reestablished. Besides when the Emergency of Affairs requires the speedy calling of the Council, I was under the Necessity of sending Expresses 100 Miles North and South, which took up 3 Weeks before I cou'd assemble them, and too frequently rendered the Result of their Meeting useless and ineffectual.

In Respect to the Conveniencies I must observe that Wilmington to which the Records are removed is the most opulent Town in the province, that it is situated on the River of Cape Fear whose Trade & Navigation is more extended than any other, and tho' it's Situation is not absolutely central in respect of the whole province, yet it is totally so in respect of his Majesty's District, the Inhabitants of which are the persons chiefly interested in this Office, besides this place is 30 Miles from the Southern Frontier the same Distance as Edenton is from the Northern Frontier, where in the Time of my predecessor Johnston the Courts and Records were kept, but then the Northern Men complain'd not; another Convenience, and that a very Material one too, is whenever a Council is required I can call them together in two days time, a Quorum of them residing near it, which together with the Lawyers that attend the Court of Chancery living in and about the Town enables me to hold that Court at pleasure and thereby renders the Business of it more regular and easy to the Suitors.

These were the Reasons that induced me to remove this Office, and if it be admitted (what cannot in Truth be denied) that the Secretary's Office together with the Records ought to be as near the Seat of Government as possible, and that there is no Seat of Government yet fixed, where then cou'd I fix the keeping of the Records and Papers but at Wilmington, a place in every Respect so advantageously circumstanced, I therefore hope in doing it to be justified by your Lordships.

13th. Resolution. "Resolved That it is the Opinion of this Committee that the not granting a Writ of Election for Tyrrel an antient County 'till after the present Assembly had sat and passed several Bills, & the granting another to Bertie County for fewer Members than they usually have sent to the Assembly is a manifest Infringement on the Rights of the Subject, and tenders to endanger the Constitution."

Answer. This old County of Tyrrel, My Lords, was a five Member County not Established as the four first Districts were under the proprietors at the first settling the Colony to make up a sufficient Number to form a House, but was erected by Act of Assembly, to which five Members were granted and was one of the Counties in the Act repealed in 1754, and I was instructed after an Act had passed to reenact and erect those Counties again reserving the power of sending Members to the Assembly until that right shou'd be granted them by Charter from his Majesty. All the other Counties took out Charters and therefore had Writs sent to them to elect Members but Tyrrel, I suppose by Means of the Attorney General who told them they had a right to send Members without a Charter, refused or did not apply to get one; and therefore I issued no Writ for that County; upon this Advice however the Freeholders met and without a Writ insisted the Sherif shou'd hold the Election; which he prudently refused having no Authority for so doing. Upon this they obliged a Constable to hold the Election, and chose five Members, who knowing it was illegal did not attend at the Meeting of the Assembly. Upon hearing this I sent to let them know that if they wou'd take out a Charter pursuant to my Instructions I wou'd grant them the privilege of sending five Members which they accordingly complied with, upon which I sent a Writ and they were duely elected & returned. But this is of a Piece with the Attorney Child's other Proceedings to accuse me for adhering to His Majesty's Instructions & supporting his just prerogative in the granting of Charters and the issuing of Writs. The other part of the Accusation in granting a Writ only for electing 2 Members for Bertie, instead of three which they formerly did I answer thus. Bertie County was formerly a five Member County erected by an Act of Assembly, and was also one of those Counties dissolved by the Repeal of the County Acts, but after its first Erection when it was allowed 5 Members Northampton County was erected and taken out of it, and by that Act two of the 5 Members were taken from it and granted to Northampton, and they afterwards sent only 3 Members. Last Winter for the Conveniency of the 3 neighboring Counties of Northampton Bertie and Chowan, a third part was taken from each County, and a new County was erected and called Hertford County, and as 2 Members were to be given to that County by Charter, the County of Bertie agreed to give up a Member for their separated third part, and accepted a Charter for two Members and accordingly a Writ issued for two Members for Bertie.

But after the Meeting of the Assembly upon the Attorney and his Junto's making this a pretence for a Cavil, upon reviewing my Instructions observing I had a power to regrant by Charter all their former privileges, I gave them without a fee or Reward a further power of sending a third Member.

Your Lordships will therefore consider whether I am to blame in adhering to his Majesty's Instructions and supporting his prerogative against his Attorney General Child and his Junto who wou'd have Counties send Members without either Charter or Writ; but by the Almighty power of the Junto who ruled the Assembly.

14. Resolution. That the Diversity of the forms in Writs of Elections issued to different Counties, some of which direct the Freeholders and others the Inhabitants in General to choose, by which last form Servants & even Convicts may elect is repugnant to the Royal Charter of King Charles the Second by which it is directed that Laws shall be made by the Consent of the Freemen and their Delegates.

Answer. In Answer to this I must observe that upon the Repeal of these and several other Laws which depended upon them, I was at a great Loss how to issue the Writs as the Law for Freeholders to elect was then repealed, and therefore I thought my self obliged to follow the first and second Charters of the Colony, which power was lodged in the Freemen of the Colony or thier Delegates, and as I did not advert to the Distinction made between Freemen and Inhabitants, as my Intention was that all free Inhabitants shou'd be Electors, until a proper Law shou'd again fix it to Freeholders, whether it was by Inadvertency that the Word Free was not inserted I can't tell; but it is false so far as to say that some Counties had Writs for Freeholders and some for the Inhabitants at large, but one of the County Elections (Granville) having broke up without making any Return, it was inquired into by the Assembly, and I was addressed to issue another Writ, and upon better Information I ordered it to be directed to the Freeholders, so that they were all at first the same with only that single Variation, and if this was a fault it proceeded only from Inadvertency or Omission of the Clerk not putting in the word free before Inhabitants; but I think the Complainants Child, Barker, and Johnston, three Lawyers, ought not to have Complained, for they were chiefly elected by sailors or such Inhabitants who were not Freeholders; for had only Freeholders voted another Sett of Men had been elected, which surely was no sign that I wanted to now model the Assembly in my favour, which in other Words was to serve the Government and to oppose Cabals and self interested Jobs.

My Lords, having answered these Inquisitorial Resolutions so far as they relate to myself, I shall refer your Lordships to my Nephew the Secretary for the other 2 Articles framed with a View to get him removed and one of the Triumvirate appointed in his room. I thank God there is not any Colour of Truth except in the whipping of Thomas Core which is greatly aggravated, and though in a passion he was undoubtedly wrong to whip a person, notwithstanding he had in Writing abused his Wife, yet he did it not under any Authority derived from his Station, and consequently can in no wise affect him as Secretary, for if he hath trangressed the Law, he is still subject to the penalties of it.

But as the Resolution against our President the late Chief Justice Hasell appointed by me with the Concurrence of the Council after Mr. Henley's Death is intended to wound me through his Sides for appointing an improper person, I shall only say that I found him Chief Justice and one of the Council at my Arrival, and continued him as such 'till Mr. Henley came over; Upon his Death I then concurred with the Council in reappointing him, and during the Time of his being Chief Justice there was not any Complaint ever made against him, as to the Complaints about the Clerk's fees he only followed the precedent given to him by Mr. Henley in dividing his Fees with his Clerks, instead of taking the whole and allowing them Salaries.

Upon the whole I believe this great Fabrick they have erected to accuse my Administration will appear to be but slenderly supported, as it is carried on only by the Intrigue Heat & Passion of the Junto who were disappointed in the Scheme of being Judges, and who in Consequence joined with the Attorney Child I may say in a secret Conspiracy right or wrong to raise a flame against me in order to have me recalled without a Hearing, and their new Patron placed at the head of Affairs, from whom they expected great Matters, as he had promised to obtain for them every lucrative Post in the Government. To render this Scheme further succesful an Address was framed by my designed Successor, who prudently kept out of the House whilst the Farce was transacting in the most artful Language in his Power calculated rather to inflame the passions than affect the Reason as it consists of no more than a Recital of those false Accusations contained in the foregoing Resolves, which renders it unnecessary for me to trouble Your Lordships with my Animadversions on it except in one Instance which carries with it an Accusation I am not heretofore charged with, to wit.

That it was notorious that the true Reason of the Councils rejecting the Aid Bill in May 1759 and of the Governor's Displeasure with the Assembly, was because one Mr. Smith his own private Attorney in London had not been proposed by the Assembly for that Appointment.

As I cannot remain silent under so false an Accusation, I must previously beg Leave so far to intrude upon Your Lordships Patience as to recapitulate some Things which I before mentioned to Your Lordships in my Letters in Spring 1759 after the December Session, when the old Junto had begun the grand Scheme of dividing the Bear's Skin, the Dividend of our Share of the £50000 amongst them, and taking it out of the hands of the Governor and Council, and lodging it in their own, without having it in the power of the General Assembly to distribute it in such a Manner as his Majesty might think for his Service and the Good of the Province to have it expended in; for this Purpose a select Committee of Correspondence was to be named by the Junto in a Corner of the Province, and one or two more were to be added who lived at a Distance, & who consequently cou'd not meet the others so that the whole Distribution was to be in the Hands of the Speaker and two of his Nephews, his Brother, John Starkey, and Mr. Barker the other Treasurer, who tho' in the general Scheme was at such a Distance as not to join in the Correspondence, and Robert Jones who projected the whole, tho' equally concerned in the Spoil, was not to be named in it; to compleat their Scheme a proper Agent was to be appointed to receive and remit the Money to them in Specie who was to be connected with them and was to correspond with them only, and they were only to be accountable to the Assembly which they then ruled, and wou'd much more when they had the Disposal of this Dividend in Cash among their friends, so that the Government, the Governor and Council; were to be entirely excluded from any Power over the Money in the Manner of laying it out for the Good of the Province, and I as Governor had nothing to do but to sign Warrants to The Treasurers to pay Cash to whomsoever they pleased. The intended plan was to apply almost the whole Sum in paying off the paper Bills of Credit as well the Treasurers Notes as the former Proclamation Bills, and under the specious Pretence of raising the Credit of the paper Currency the publick was to have only the Benefit of paying them off at 33⅓ and the Junto with the Cash was to buy up the paper Money at the present Discount which is now raised to near £190, so that about 56 ⅌ Cent was to be divided amongst the Junto and Treasurers, who were besides to have poundage upon it, and probably as a Cloak a few of the friends of the Committee might be allowed some part at a somewhat lower Discount. Thus was the Spoil to be divided after Commission, Insurance, freight &c from England were deducted, and in 2 or 3 Years the whole Cash wou'd be carry'd back again to Britain to answer their Debts there, and to procure more Goods for this Market, so that when they had paid off and burned a considerable part of the paper Currency, raised the price of the Remainder, as there wou'd not be sufficient to answer the inland Demands of Trade, they wou'd then be petitioning for a further Emission. This, My Lords, is a true State of the Case, and to accomplish this Mr. Abercrombie who had been closely connected with the Speaker and his friends in the former Committee, and to whom the Committee owed between £3 & 400 Sterling, and who had got Warrants from me sufficient to pay his whole Appointment, but was sunk in the Pockets of the Speaker, Starkey &c. to whom it was paid by buying up bad Indigo and charging it at a high price though sold for a low one in London, and some still remaining in the Speaker's hands; Mr. Abercrombie, I say, was to receive and remit this great Sum after paying himself the Ballance due to him, he was also to have an Allowance of £200 ⅌. Ann. whilst he was agent besides contingent Charges, and he was only to correspond with that Junto, in which the Governor and Council were to have no Cognizance, and this Junto only accountable to the Assembly. This was the plan which I was to defeat, and our first Speaker a friend of Mr. Smiths, who being ill and obliged to resign the Chair, named him in Opposition to the Junto but could not be attended to, however this Agency so well concerted was cunningly clap'd into the 2d. Bill for fixing the Seat of Government which was thrown out in Council, and their Scheme thereby defeated.

In Spring 1759 Mr. Secretary Pitt having intimated His Majesty's Commands to procure a further Supply to assist in the Attack of Canada &c. In pursuance of his Majesty's Command I held an Assembly in May 1759, and as Mr. Pitt had engaged to apply to Parliament by His Majesty's Order to reimburse them for any future Supply as they shou'd hereafter appear to merit, and that upon their fixing an Agent in Concurrence with the Governor and Council, he wou'd order payment for the Share of the Dividend of £50000, and their further Expence against Fort Du Quesne, they thought they cod. then fix their Agent, and go on with their plan in Spite of the Governor and Council, and for fear they shou'd not carry the person they wanted in a separate Bill, they tacked it to the Aid, and so clog'd and brought it in so late as to be of no Service to His Majesty, and therefore was thrown out by the Council, for the Rejection of which I have your Lordships Approbation 1st. Augt. 1759, to which and my former Letters I refer our Lordships, so that Mr. Smith's Name was not then brought upon the Gapis.

Indeed before upon the Assembly voting Mr. Abercrombie to be Agent and appointing him a Salary by their own Power without Consent of the Governor and Council, they on the other hand in Opposition to their Resolution appointed Mr. Smith to be Agent for the Governor and Council, and it so rested until this last April Session, for there was no Attempt to appoint an Agent in the last November one; And in this late Session Mr. Smiths Name was not so much as once mentioned, so that the falsity of this Insinuation I hope fully appears to your Lordships.

However as an Attempt in April 1760 was again made by a separate Bill to appoint one Anthony Bacon upon the same plan as the former; the Council upon the same Principles threw out the Bill, whereby the Scheme as to that part remained unexecuted, yet the Junto by their Influence in the Assembly obtained a Resolve to make him Agent at a Salary of £200 ⅌. Ann. without the Consent of the Governor and Council subsequent to the Address at the Close of the 2d. short Session; I cannot therefore conclude without making some brief Observations on it.

This Mr. Bacon, My Lords, at the Recommendation of Mr. Child the Attorney General and Agent to Lord Granville had made a very disadvantagious and I may say an iniquitous Agreement with his Lordship to remit him his Quitrents and other fees at the rate of £170 this Currency for £90 Sterling, which is above 50 ⅌. Cent Discount above the par of 133⅓, and had a year's time to remit it in after the Paper Money was paid to his order in this Province. This person who was so deeply concern'd in this Compact with My Lord, and in which Child was to have a Share was also to be Agent and to have the Benefit of sending the Money over here, upon which Child and the Junto were to have the further Profit of above 56 ⅌ Cent as they wou'd buy up the paper Money at 190 and pay it off in Cash at 33⅓, this Person was also chosen as being the most obnoxious to me, having had credible Information that at Your Lordships Board he had falsely calumniated me, & assured without any Foundation that in the Seizure of a Ship by Mr. Palmer Collector of Bath for transgressing the Act of Navigation I had gone on Board the Vessel with the Collector and forced him to make the Seizure contrary to Law, which was entirely false: I happen'd at that time to go to view the forts which were then erected at Portsmouth near Ocacock and old Topsail Inlet, in which Excursion the Collector accompanied me; and at the same Time informed me of the Ship's having broke the Act of Navigation, and produced the several Acts to me in which I found if I did not put those Laws in Execution when come to my Knowledge I was to forfeit a large Sum of Money and be rendered incapable of holding any Employment under the Crown. He then asked my Advice how he shou'd act in it, upon which I told him I cou'd no otherwise advise him than to obey the Laws. Upon this I proceeded from viewing the Fort at old Topsail Inlet to Fort Granville on Core Banks near which the Ship lay, when he went on Board and seized the Ship, and had her afterwards lawfully condemned so that I never was on Board the Ship or in any Manner otherwise concerned in it. These are the genuine facts, My Lords, I declare upon my Honour, and for the Truth of which I appeal to Mr. Palmer now in London.

But to shew how deeply Mr. Child was engaged with Bacon, an eminent Member moved that the Blank shou'd be filled up with the Name of Mr. Pownall, and appealed to Child for his Character he with a low Bow answered he wou'd not enter into private Characters, but when Bacon was named he gave him the most exalted Character, and after having largely expatiated upon his unbiassed Integrity, the Junto got his Name inserted, thinking by my Speech at the opening of the first Session I must have passed the Bill, had it not been rejected in the Council; which baffled all their deep laid & self-interested Schemes.

To close therefore my Defence against this formidable Attack on Government through my Administration, I appeal to Your Lordships whether in these general Accusations they have made any thing appear that can impeach my Integrity and Honour, or to prove that I have acted in any wise inconsistent with that Trust His Majesty has thought fit to repose in me, nor can it be presumed that these Charges are far from being a compleat Catalogue of the Sufferings of those placed under my Administration, thereby insinuating that they only have remarked a few of the Crimes (for as such they are painted) which I have committed, when it clearly appears that they have exhausted all their Malice, as there is not one Circumstance that cou'd carry with it even the Colour of Exception since I came into this Province but what the Attorney and his Junto hath falsely exaggerated. It is with pleasure therefore that I can brave the Consequence, as my Conduct will admit of the strictest Scrutiny.

I well know, My Lords, that as the Liberties of the people when they degenerate into Republican principles are prejudicial to the just Rights of the Crown, so is the prerogative when raised beyond its due Limits destructive and hurtful to the just Liberties of the people. I therefore made it my sole Aim to preserve a due Medium so that neither shou'd preponderate, but that Republican Spirit which this province is so notorious for in some Degree rendered my Efforts ineffectual; Indeed it was frequently hinted that if I wou'd accede to certain Measures my Administration might be easy and happy, which Measures were lamely to be silent and let the Heads of a Republican party engross the executive Power of the Crown, and propose no Measures but what ultimately tended to their Emolument. I replied as I ever shall reply and I hope my Conduct has corresponded with my professions, that I had no private View to gratify, and had never proposed any Measure but what in my Opinion wou'd conduce to the Benefit of the province, and as such never desired either Council or Assembly to support me unless such Measures were pursued, but this did not Answer their Purposes, for under such an Administration their self interested projects disguised under the Mask of patriotism cou'd not with facility be executed, therefore they formed a Cabal against Government; and jointly determined to oppose every thing that proceeded from the Crown as inconsistent with and oppressive of the Rights and Liberties of the people, and this with a View to force me into a Concurrence with their Measures by making my Administration as uneasy as in their power, but in this as before they were deceived too, for the Ease experienced in a publick Station can alone proceed from the Consciousness of having faithfully discharged the Duty of it: That person therefore who unintimidated adheres to his Instructions and is determined to concur in no Schemes but what will advance the true Interest of the province he governs can in no wise deserve Censure, and in that Light I hope to appear to your Lordships.

If these Assertions therefore are such as can be justified, I must leave it to your Lordships Judgment whether his Majesty's Government here can be supported with Honour, or this Colony can be kept in a reasonable Dependance upon Britain, if the power of the Assembly is to be raised, and that of the Governor & Council made to truckle to a Junto of the Assembly.

And whether your Lordships will think it advisable to continue a Gentleman in the Station of His Majesty's Attorney General who is come over with a View to raise a flame against the Administration in this province, a Gentleman who is obligated by his Oath to support not to encroach upon the prerogative of the Crown, and who ought to advise me to adhere to rather than force me to break through my Instructions, for by these Means the executive power of the Crown will be lessened & at last extinguished, and it wou'd be then too late to curb the Spirit of Independency rising in this Colony.

And whether you will think it proper either to confer or continue favours on those who for private Views obstruct the Supplies and counteract those Measures which are necessary & essential to the future peace and Safety of this Province.

I therefore submit the whole to your Lordships wise and prudent Consideration, and hope that every Circumstance of my Conduct when it comes to be scrutinously enquired into may be received by your Lordships as a faithful Discharge of the Duty I owe to His Majesty and the Country, the Government of which is intrusted to my Care.